


Trust Issues

by WolfsHowl5678



Category: Ghost Hunt
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 19:57:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9253829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfsHowl5678/pseuds/WolfsHowl5678
Summary: Years after Naru left, Mai is still struggling on her own, and trying to deal with her friends abandonment. When Naru returns, will she be able to trust them again?





	

Mai didn’t know why her stupid narcissistic boss had liked her tea so much, but after he had all but vanished from her life, she was more than grateful he had made her make it so often. 

 

“Here you go, order number 5,” she said, handing off the hot cup of tea to one of the waiters. She flashed a grin at Mai in thanks, hurrying off to serve the customers. It had been a few years since Naru had left, and ever since then it seemed like their little group had fallen apart. Mai had watched, slowly, silently, as her new family drifted, until they never responded to her messages anymore, and inside a bitterness she had never felt before had blossomed, growing into a endless pool of resentment. She didn’t hate them, necessarily, but she was hurt, betrayed. First her family had died, and her few friends she clung to, and now SPR, which she’d considered a second family, had left her too. She never realized how much Naru was paying her, until she was out of a job and left to try and scrape up the money for her apartment like she had been doing before. 

 

So, here she was, working part time at a tea shop, her other job being at a florists, all while balancing homework and volunteering at a local animal shelter whenever she could. Being busy kept the bitterness away. Being busy gave no time for her mistrust to grow. 

 

After Naru had left her, with heartbreak and sadness the most prominent emotions in her mind, she had thrown herself into her studies, trying to keep the pain at bay. She had succeeded, to a degree, and ended up finding she was actually good at languages. After that, she began taking every language class her school offered, and now, with her in college, she was getting a degree in several. It was easy for her, learning words and dialects and speaking. 

 

So here she was, struggling through college and working part time jobs, just trying to make her way through the world, when, suddenly, her phone rang. She scowled at where it was sitting on the counter, in the middle of trying to brew two different coffees and an Earl Grey tea, when it’s incessant vibrating disrupted her usual work.

 

‘That’s odd,’ she thought to herself, her gut screaming to pick up the phone, despite the fact it might get her fired. Even after all these years, she still listened to her gut instinct, and as she reached over, the unfamiliar number flashing on the screen, she almost hesitated. Almost.

 

“Mai Taniyama speaking, how can I help you?” She answered, shoving the crappy flip phone between her shoulder and face as she bustled around the kitchen, placing finished order on the counter to be taken to their respective people. 

 

“Mai.” The voice sent a cold shock through her system, momentarily pausing her work. Her eyes widened, and she felt her heart scream, although whether it was rejoicing or recoiling she couldn’t tell. She only knew one voice that sounded so cold and smug at the same time.

 

“Oliver. It’s been awhile,” she responded coolly, voice giving no hints at the emotions she was feeling. It got easier to hide things, she discovered over the years. Especially over the phone.

 

“Yes. I have decided to reopen SPR, if you would like your old job back.” He replied, all business as usual. She frowned, heart and gut both screaming at her, although what she couldn’t quite say. She tried to think logically about the situation, hands busy drying off cups as she bit her lip. She could say no, wash her hands of this mess of feelings and emotions, and go on with her life, or she could say yes, and see where it takes her. But if she was going to say yes, she sure as hell was gonna get something out of it. If nothing else, years of painful working had taught her this.

 

“That depends,” she replied, cold and calculating. Her mind wandered to her tiny apartment that she had downsized to, on the rent she could barely pay while keeping up with her studies, of her lack of free time to do things she liked.If she could get a better pay, and a job that would take up less time, then maybe…

 

“”Depends on what?” Naru responded, a flicker of surprise in his voice. She smiled, if only slightly. ‘Gotcha,’ she thought to herself. Switching her phone to the other ear, she continued to bustle around the kitchen.

 

“On how much you’re going to pay me,” she replied. Her current jobs combined payed almost the same amount as she had been getting at SPR, but with a significantly higher workload. If she could get him to double her pay, she could start paying for college and start saving up for emergencies, not to mention have a significantly longer amount of free time. 

 

“The same as before,” Naru responded, and she frowned, biting her lip.

 

“Double it and I’m in. Otherwise, I wish you luck on finding a new assistant,” she replied, knowing she was taking a leap of faith, hoping that he would want her back enough to agree to her demands. If not, well, too bad for her.

 

“Fine. I expect you to be in the office tomorrow at 7 a.m. sharp,” he replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She internally cheered, thinking of the first pay check she would be getting, and how much stress she could relieve with it. Life was looking up, if nothing else. 

 

For the rest of the day, she wondered in the back of her mind if Naru would be proud of how far she’d come from her little freshman self.

 

~~

 

Waking up at six the next morning wasn’t difficult, she was used to it for morning classes and early work at the floral shop. It was supposed to be her day off, though, so she was a bit less on the ball, but after years of working under Ms. Kim, her strict boss at the floral shop, and several threats of getting fired, she had learned the important skill of always being on time. 

 

So she hauled herself out of bed, turning her alarm off and set about getting ready for the morning. Her mind, sluggish but still awake, was already working on how long it would take to walk to the old building from her apartment. Fifteen minutes later, she was out the door, purse in hand, bundled up in a sweater to fight off the early morning fall chill. Quickly walking down the streets, it took her very little time to make it to the old building, which, as far as she knew, had remained rented by Naru the entire time he was gone. She had kept her old key, thank god, and hurrying up the stairs, she quickly opened the door, surprised to find that everything was covered by a thin layer of dust. It was only a bit warmer inside the building, but the feeling of loneliness it gave off almost made it feel colder.

 

_ Well, I guess it’s time to dust, then, _ she thought, placing her bag on a counter in the kitchen. Digging round, she found the vacuum in the closet with the duster, and quickly began her work. The office was actually quite small, so it only took her a few minutes to vacuum everything, and only a minute more to dust everything off. She brushed off Naru and Lin’s desks and computers, as well as Naru’s bookshelves, which contained several books that she had read, having gone on a bit of a psychic craze right after Naru left. After that, she set to cleaning up all the cups in the kitchen, seeing them all covered in a layer of dust as well, she didn’t want to risk anything with something you drink out of. 

 

After they had all been put into the dishwasher, she looked around, intending to prepare Naru the tea he loved so much. The tea, unfortunately, like everything else, were covered in years worth of dust and had probably remained from the first SPR.

 

“Man, would it have killed him to at least send someone to clean this place up?” She questioned out loud, throwing away all the old tea which had, oddly, been left open. 

 

“Guess I should go buy some more…” She mused, a glance at the time revealing that if she ran, she would have just enough time to go to the store and get back before 7. She grabbed her wallet and keys, pausing to leave a note just in case, before taking off, sprinting out of the door and down to the small convenience store a few blocks away. It was easy enough to find all of the old members favorites, even after having not spoken to any of them in years. After checking out, she ran back to the building, fumbling with her keys when she heard voices inside.

 

“You gave her double pay, Naru?!” A male voice said, making her pause for a moment before she recognized Lin.

 

“Yes. She was a good employee, and it was her only condition for accepting.” The second voice was obviously Naru’s, and she was surprised to hear him in person after all this time. Somehow, she had expected that he wouldn’t even show up, instead just leaving her heart wounded like he had before. No matter, she wasn’t letting him get close to her again. She wouldn’t let anything so trivial hurt her ever again.

 

“She wasn’t ever on time to work, and often never got anything done. She’s still not on time, even though-” deciding she had heard enough of Lin’s slander, she pushed open the door, bags of tea in hand. Stepping in, she eyed them both with a cool indifference, shoving the door closed behind her with a kick.

 

“Nice to know you have such a high opinion of me, Lin. I apologize, but I was out replacing the old tea. The others were no good, having not been replaced for several years. I left a note on my old desk by my bag explaining why I wasn’t here at seven,” she replied coldly, moving past the two males and into the kitchen, where she began setting up all the teas. Seeing that the dishwasher wasn’t yet done, she moved back into the main space, eyeing Naru with a sort of contempt, despite her heart hammering against her chest.

 

“Now, as for my current pay and work hours. I will be giving my two week notice to my other jobs, so until then I will not be able to work here full time. Also, I would appreciate if you could work around my college schedule for the time being, at least until I can work out some type of agreement with my professors or my school about it. Until such time you can pay me half of what you normally will, but after everything is resolved I still want double pay of what I previously got,” she said, settling herself onto one of the couches with a business-like manner. Lin and Naru both looked surprised by her demeanor, no doubt expecting to come back to the same carefree happy girl that they had left. What a shame for them.

 

“I will agree to all of your terms, Mai,” Naru said, remaining standing. She nodded in response, standing up and moving back to her old desk.

 

“Very well, now that that’s all settled, what will my work for the day be?” She asked, trying to keep her voice and face from betraying some of the traitorous emotions she still held towards him, like trust and love. No. She refused to let herself get hurt by him again. 

 

“You will be in charge of going through each of the case files that have been brought to us, and ranking them based on priority. After that, decide whether or not each case will need to be investigated on site over several days, or simply one or two days. Then, contact some of the old members to send on the lowest priority cases, while giving the high priority ones to either Lin or I to go over and decide which to take on.” Naru explained, handing her a stack of files. She took them without complaint, moving over and setting them on her own desk. She was prepared to sit down for a long day of tedious tasks when Naru spoke up again.

 

“Oh, and Mai?” She glanced up at him, Lin already moving to his own desk.

 

“Yes?” She replied, tilting her head at him.

 

“Tea,” he said, disappearing into his own office. She ducked her head to hide her irritation, quickly standing up to see if the dishwasher had finished washing the tea pot yet. Not five minutes later, she walked in with Naru’s favorite tea in a cup, balanced on a tray with the tea pot. She gently set it down on his desk before turning and leaving the room, glaring at the stack of files like it was the bane of her existence. And, in a way, she supposed it was.

 

~~

 

It took her a few hours to get through each case, taking the time to carefully go over everything, and to call the clients for more information, as well as to see if the case had been taken up by another facility or individual. Several had, so she discarded those, setting them in their own special pile, while the other pile, ranked from top to bottom, contained all the case files that hadn’t yet been investigated. 

 

She handed off the top three to Lin, before moving back and picking up the phone, flipping through each case and mentally deciding which person would be best for which case.

 

‘Haunting right next to a park.’  _ Ayako. _

 

‘Stadium for music.’  _ Monk. _

 

‘Small household on the edge of the city.’  _ John. _

 

‘Only possible haunting?’  _ Masako, then, if haunted, John or Monk. _

 

It went on like this until she had put down a name for each small case, and then, with uneasy breathing, she began to dial up her old friends.

 

“Takigawa Houshou speaking, how can I help you?” Monks familiar voice spilled through the phone’s speaker, her heart hurting a bit at his voice.

 

“Takigawa, it’s Mai. I’m calling on behalf of SPR, there are a few small case we would like you to investigate if possible. They are all relatively nearby, so don’t worry about having to go far. You will, of course, get some of the pay from the jobs, an amount you will have to discuss with my boss, Mr. Davis,” Mai spoke, trying desperately to keep the professionalism in her voice. 

 

“Oh, Mai, hey! It’s been awhile hasn't it? You said SPR? Does that mean Naru is back in town?” Monk said happily, as he hadn’t abandon her like they all had, like Naru hadn’t been the only thing holding their little family together. The hurt, raw and scorching, still flooded her, the beginnings of tears pricking at her eyes.

 

“Yes, Mr. Davis is indeed back. Now, would you like to take the jobs? You can drop by the office and I will give you the files,” she said, to which he quickly agreed. She repeated the process with everyone, and then they slowly trickled into the office, although instead of simply taking the case files and leaving like she had hoped, they remained, sitting and chatting while she was trying to work, like they hadn’t broken her trust. When the last member arrived, she stood, moving over and passing case files out.

 

“If you would please, investigate each of these places, and, if necessary, cleanse or exorcise the spirit. Masako, I have sent you on several cases which sound like they may be curses or actual hauntings, so I would like you to investigate and if there are spirits, contact either Monk or John to help you. If not, contact Yasu, and Yasu, I would like you to investigate to see if the problems are from a supernatural haunting or not. The names of the clients and their addresses are inside, along with their phone numbers. Report back here once you have finished and you can discuss your payment with Naru,” she spoke stiffly, carefully composing herself to be like Naru was, at first. They seemed surprised by this, but she ignored it, going back to her desk once she had passed the files out.

 

“I will contact all the clients and tell them you are coming, if you would please begin going to their houses,” she spoke, watching as they all trickled out again while she was calling the clients. As she finished up with the last one, Naru emerged from his office, looking for her.

 

“Have you contacted the others yet?” He asked, the air of formality around them strained with unspoken words and old confessions.

 

“Yes. I just sent them on their way with all of the cases they should cover. Lin has been looking over the ones I gave to him and these,” she said, picking them up and walking over to Naru, “Were cases that were already in the process of being investigated by another company or individual.” 

 

“Good, I will begin going over the cases you gave to Lin, and you are free to leave for the rest of the day,” Naru said, taking the case files back and walking towards Lin’s office. She nodded, moving over to her stuff and gathering it up. Before he went into Lin’s office, he turned around to look at her.

 

“Oh, and Mai, one more thing,” he said, but she was already moving across the room, grabbing his usual and setting it up. Looking pleased, he walked into Lin’s office, closing the door behind him. She made some of Lin’s favorite too, and followed him in, dropping off the tray before moving out, quickly walking out the buildings door. It was almost 3, which meant she had about an hour before her shift at the flower shop started, just enough time to eat something and get there. She sighed, rubbing her head as she walked. It was turning o0ut to be a long day.

 

~~

 

For the next two weeks her schedule became increasingly hectic, juggling three jobs and school. Luckily, it was her last day of working for both the flower shop and the tea shop, which would be a huge weight off her shoulders. After that, it took another week or so to adjust to her new schedule as well, and she worked things out with her professors so that she could get notes early to study if she needed to go somewhere for her job. Luckily, none of them asked about her work, and she didn't give any details. Not even a week after she had informed Naru of this did he announce that they would be taking a case out of town, where they would be staying for several days.

 

She had taken it in stride, going and getting all the notes she would need for up to a week, making sure she had everything she needed packed away, and was ready by the time Naru announced what day they would be leaving.

 

She had been cool but cordial towards everyone else, not quite rude, but nowhere close to the happy girl she used to be. The others didn’t seem to know what to make of the change, and eventually settled for simply ignoring it and acting like nothing had happened. She couldn’t quite bring herself to hate them for it, but the resentment was there, boiling and bubbling just beneath the surface.

 

When they arrived at the house, Masako, true to form, had sensed the terribly lonely spirit and ‘fainted’ into Naru’s arms. She hadn't been amused, and neither had Naru, but they both brushed it off, moving into the house anyways. When she walked in, she felt the buzz, slight and small, that came with a spirit being in the house. She discovered the feeling when she found out that several buildings near her smaller apartment had been haunted, and had taken it upon herself to practice her old powers, if only to help the trapped spirits. 

 

The pang of loneliness that came with the buzz was one that was very familiar to her, and the boiling resentment she could feel in the floorboards even more so. She allowed herself to be lead through the house, picking up on the slight changes the rooms gave off, some having happy vibes, some having resentful vibes, and some a mixture of both. She knew she was sort of feeling her way into the past, and into the spirits memories, and she felt she already knew what the spirits problem was. Upon coming to the living room, she felt the biggest wave of emotion, a painful mixture of loneliness, anger, resentment, and depression that seemed to spiral inwards toward the center. 

 

“This is the most active room in the house, and we were hoping you could have the place cleared out by next week, we’re having a bunch of friends over for a party…” The owner and client continued to speak, but Mai had zoned out, taking in as much as she could.

 

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but do you entertain here often?” Mai said, turning her gaze back to the client. The lady nodded, explaining how she and her friends gathered every wednesday to talk and play games. Mai nodded, already processing the information. No wonder the ghost was angry.

 

“Would you mind if I took a nap in here? Sometimes it’s easier to understand the spirit if I’m in the place where it’s most active.” Mai asked, gesturing to the couch. The woman seemed surprised but let her, bustling off to get a blanket and some pillows. Naru gave her a quizzical look, but didn't question it, and she gave no answered to the others questions. The woman returned, setting up a small sleeping space on the couch, before continuing with her tour, everyone leaving Mai behind.

 

She hung back until they turned a corner, returning to the living room and laying down on the couch.

 

‘I hope this works…’ she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep.

 

~~

 

_ Where were her friends? It had been weeks since she’d received a message from any of them, not even a letter or a text. She paced the room, fidgeting with her sleeve, the growing loneliness a dull ache in her heart. Had they left her? No they wouldn’t do that, right? But she had checked online, and they were all still okay, so why weren’t they responding to her messages? She tapped out another text, hitting the send button before returning to her pacing. Was it true they only liked her for her husband? He had been friends with all of their husbands, sure, but she thought the bond they had was stronger than that. _

 

_ Maybe it was because of her husband. When he had left her, all of their husbands remained his friends. Maybe that was why they had ditched her so quickly. Or maybe they just hadn’t liked her. She didn’t know. But it hurt, it hurt so much.  _

 

_ She sent another text. _

 

_ ~~ _

 

_ It had been a few months now, and no one had even wished her a happy birthday on facebook. Was she really that repulsive? She had new neighbors now, and they tried to say hi but she shut them out, afraid they would ditch her too. All the unused rooms were getting dusty, but she didn’t care. No one was coming anyways. But maybe, maybe if she held onto her hope, then… _

 

_ ~~ _

 

_ It had been three years since she had any contact with the outside world, other than the occasional grocery run. She snarled at the walls of her gilded cage, slashing her knife into it. So what if she didn’t have friends? Who needed them? Fuck friendship, all she needed was herself. The resentment and anger raged in her, and she slashed at the wall again, tearing into the wallpaper, joining the other slash marks already there. They hadn’t deserved a friend like her, nobody did, because she didn’t need friends anymore. She had fired all her house servants, because she didn’t need anyone else. All she needed was herself. _

 

_ ~~ _

 

_ It was dark, and she was lonely. Hair a mess, unwashed and unbrushed, she made keening noises, sad and desperate, as she rocked herself back and forth on the floor. She missed people, she missed everyone, and it hurt it  _ **_hurt_ ** _. But she knew she could make it all end. She stood unsteadily, moving from room to room, gathering the things she needed, she stood in her living room, remembering years ago when she and her ‘friends’ had all sat here, laughing and drink while their husbands talked in the other room. She curled in on herself, moving slowly, rope dangling, noose made, and then- _

 

_ ~~ _

 

Mai awoke with a gasp, panting and rubbing her neck furiously. She was sweating a ton, blankets tangled around her legs and hair sticking to her head. Sitting up, she began to slowly free herself from the blankets, checking the window to see what time it was. It was dark out, so she must have slept for most of the day. Slowly but carefully, she moves herself off the bed, looking around as her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room.

 

_ There _ , she thinks to herself as she spots the camera, tucked away in the corner. It was placed so they couldn’t actually see where she was on the couch, but most of the rest of the room was visible. She stretched a bit, before settling back down into a sitting position on the floor, out of sight of the camera's watchful eye. She pondered what she had seen and felt, and she knew she had a personally connection to how the woman felt, but… she wouldn’t really become that, would she? She quickly moved her mind off the topic, moving instead on how to cleanse the spirit. Obviously they would need some way to make the spirit see that she needed friends, or perhaps that she was mistaken and her friends hadn’t abandoned her. But no, it seemed unnecessarily cruel to lie to the woman, but Mai couldn't help but wonder if she was similar in a way, if maybe her friends hadn’t meant to abandoned her…

 

Shaking off the train of thought, she tucked herself back onto her little couch, curling up tight and deciding to ponder it more in the morning.

 

~~

 

Waking up to the sun in her eyes, she groaned quietly, sliding off the couch and moving out into the hallway. It was easy enough to find the bedrooms where everyone else was staying, although most of them were still asleep. She took a shower, changing into the clothes she’d brought with her, moving in a sort of silent daze, wandering around rooms in the house, eventually finding her way back to the living room.

 

Knowing that someone was probably manning the base, and had most likely noted her wandering movements, she made no move to avoid the camera sitting in the corner. However, she did realize there was no microphone with it, which struck her as odd. It was the most active room in the house, why wouldn’t it have a microphone? Nevertheless, she was somewhat grateful for it, taking the seat just out of the camera’s sight, wondering if it would be worth it to try and talk to the spirit. The buzzing she felt got louder, meaning the spirit was near. As good a time as any, she supposed.

 

“I know you’re there,” she spoke, eyes sliding around the room, looking for any sign of the spirit, “And I know how you feel.”

 

The curtains seemed to ripple a bit, and suddenly she could see the faint outline of a woman standing by the window.

 

_ “And how would you know what I feel like?” _ The woman asked, voice eerie and echoey, with such an overwhelming aura of tiredness it made Mai sleepy just hearing it.

 

“My friends, well, they did the same thing to me,” Mai explained, letting her head fall back so it was on the couch, staring at the ceiling. “But I think you’re wrong with what you’re doing.” She added, closing her eyes.

 

_ “What do you mean?”  _ The ghost asked, seeming willing to listen. This image didn’t fit at all with what the client had said, or with what her dreams had shown her. But then again, death could do a lot to a person’s way of thinking.

 

“I mean that even if you’re bitter or sad, that’s no reason to stick around and torment other people. You would be much happier moving on,” Mai responded, not opening her eyes. She heard the shift of the curtains again, and was faintly surprised when she felt a presence next to her.

 

_ “Perhaps you are right,” _ The spirit said, her voice showing a tiredness beyond her years.  _ “But, I am afraid to move on. I do not know what waits for me there, if I will be punished for what I have done. It is easier to cling to what you know than to move into the unknown, isn’t it?”  _ Mai pondered this, opening her eyes and turning to look at the spirit. The woman looked sad, and scared, but here was something in the way she held herself that spoke of a fearlessness that hadn’t quite been lost to time.

 

“Well, I would appreciate if you thought about it. My friends and I are here on behalf of the current owner of the house to exorcise you, but I think it would be much better if you went on your own terms. So please, think about moving on. It’s not as scary as you might think,” Mai spoke, thinking of Gene’s final goodbye to her before he left. 

 

_ “Very well, kindred spirit, I will do as you ask. By tonight, I will give you my answer.”  _ The woman stood up, brushing herself off from nonexistent dust, moving back towards the curtains.  _ “But if I do this, then you must promise me one thing.” _

 

“What?”

 

_ “Try to find it in your heart to forgive your friends. A life without friends is a lonely one, and I do not wish to see anyone else fall as far as I have,”  _ The woman spoke, disappearing as the sun finally rose completely above the horizon, leaving Mai alone to contemplate her words.

 

~~

 

The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur to Mai, a mix between discussing information Yasu and Lin had gathered, measuring the temperatures of the rooms, and sitting watching the video feeds for anything interesting. She hadn’t told the others about her conversation with the ghost, and since the video hadn’t caught the spirit on camera when Mai had spoken to her, as well as the lack of audio, it seemed like nothing had transpired. She had kept it to herself mainly because she didn’t want the others to try and do anything to the ghost woman before she made up her mind, and she wasn’t sure how the ghost would take her blabbing on their deal.

 

When the day filled with unnecessary busy work had begun to wind down, Mai found herself itching to get to the living room and speak with the ghost again.

 

“Mai,” Naru spoke, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. Naru looked at her with only a hint of exasperation, and a bit of something else she couldn’t place. “Are you going to be sleeping in the living room again tonight?”

 

Mai shook her head, hoping that by tonight the spirit would have left. Naru handed her one of the microphones they used, along with the cord to plug it into the camera.

 

“Good. Set this up with the camera and then you can be done for the day.” He said, already turning away. She took it in stride, heading to the living room and quickly setting up the microphone, but leaving it unplugged.

 

“Have you thought about it, miss?” she said to the empty air, the ghost appearing a second later, shimmering in the center of the room.

 

_ “Yes, but I will only leave after you talk to your friends. They do truly care about you, you know.” _ The woman said, crossing her arms.  _ “If necessary, I can always make you talk.”  _ Mai flinched back at the implications.

 

“Fine, I’ll call them in right now, I guess. It would be easier to get them in here if you made an appearance on camera.” Mai said, plugging in the microphone. The woman shimmered again, suddenly becoming less transparent, to the point it almost looked like she was a real person. Not even a minute later, the entire SPR burst into the room, looking ready to kill someone. ‘That worked much faster than expected.’ Mai thought to herself, stepping into the center of the room. Too late, she realized she had no idea how she was supposed to talk to her ‘friends’. It had been so long, and her hurt was still so raw it made it difficult to think, or act rationally.

 

She felt a sudden coolness embrace her, and felt like she was floating, watching her body from afar. She smiled as all of the SPR members stiffened, horror dawning on their faces. ‘She possessed me..’ Mai thought distantly, watching with a sort of disconnected apathy as the woman began speaking.

 

_ “You may not know exactly who I am, but you know what I am. And I am going to speak on behalf of your friend here.”  _ The woman started, everyone looking unsure of what to do.  _ “I was left by my friends, left for years on my own, and it was what killed me. Your friend is stronger than I have ever been, but she is still hurting.” _ The woman turned directly to Naru, eyes cold and ruthless. 

 

_ “When she confessed her feelings, you shot her down. Heartless, unfeeling.You left her to cope with it herself, while her second family fell apart around her. You all are to blame here. You stopped talking to her, stopped contacting her, and how was she to feel, except abandoned by those she thought she could trust? It was a struggle for her to keep herself afloat, and it was made so much worse when her support system dropped her like she was nothing. Can you imagine how that must have felt? You were the only ones she had left, and then she didn’t even have you anymore.”  _ The woman seemed to finish speaking, and Mai was suddenly pulled back into her own body, left staring at the horrified faces of her friends.

 

_ “Mai, it is time I left this place, but I want to thank you. I hope you choose to work things out with them, they are good people, and may good things can come of forgiving them. Goodbye, Mai.”  _ The ghost said, letting her gaze linger meaningfully on Naru before she vanished, a burst of golden light flooding the room. 

 

“Mai, was what she said true?” Monk asked, looking at her with a pained expression. Mai nodded, feeling warm tears beginning to slide down her face. She knew it would take a long time for her to trust them again, and she knew they would fight for every step, that they would never stop trying to be her friend again, and she thought that maybe she could learn to trust them again. Maybe things could be like old times again, with just as much laughter and companionship.

  
Mai looked forward to what her future would bring.

**Author's Note:**

> Lol Get fucked Dan you owe me


End file.
